Latest posts for the topic "ISO Playback"

ISO Playback

jm — GMT

I've ripped my video collection to ISO files. Is there any method, without having to go through and transcode all the files first, to have Air Video recognize them? FWIW, I don't care about the DVD menus, I'm simply looking for the ability to play the main feature. Thanks!

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

Hi,

there's no way of playing ripped DVDs (iso or not) in Air Video. Air Video only plays video files.

Re:ISO Playback

gyre — GMT

Like the OP, I have my entire video collection in .iso format so that xbmc can easily play it.

Has there been any change in thought since the OP posted in allowing .isos to be streamed via air video?

Thanks!

-- gyre --

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

No change I'm afraid.

Re:ISO Playback

gyre — GMT

OK. Thanks anyway.

-- gyre --

Re:ISO Playback

shutter — GMT

dang I guess ill have to mount my dvds and convert them with hand brake instead of buying this then. Too bad. I ripped my whole collection to dvd iso.

Re:ISO Playback

canyon — GMT

+1 for iso format. 90 percent of my movie collection is in this format and I would buy the iPhone and iPad apps in a heartbeat if this format were supported.

Re:ISO Playback

sburman — GMT

BUMP this request. I too have all my collection as ISO files. Please add support.

Re:ISO Playback

stein1308 — GMT

+1 for iso format. Most of my collection is in iso format on my PCH-A110 HD.

Re:ISO Playback

idengrenme — GMT

also have my library in ISO please add support

ISO Playback

robinsj — GMT

ANother one here who would love ISO support... I love what it does, and ISO would just make it even Awesomererer

Re:ISO Playback

OracleGuy — GMT

I just discovered Air Video thanks to an article on LifeHacker, and bought it sight unseen based on their recommendation.

It works great! However, I too would like to see ISO and/or VIDEO_TS support, as I also have ripped many of my DVDs to my NAS to allow for media streaming.

I don't know what your "new feature request list" looks like, but I think this capability should be near the top. It's definitely at the top of my wish list.

Cheers!

Re:ISO Playback

denizen — GMT

Any new info on .iso/VIDEO_TS support? Is this feature possible or is there a technical limitation that would prohibit this? In other words...is .iso support being considered or is this a feature that will not be implemented on Air Video?

By the way. Your program is awesome and was my first iPad app purchase.

Re:ISO Playback

woodsjm — GMT

[quote=Admin]Hi,

there's no way of playing ripped DVDs (iso or not) in Air Video. Air Video only plays video files.[/quote]

ish...

Grab some software called Handbrake and rip those ISO's / VIDEO_TS folders to an MKV.

AirVideo plays VERY nicely with MKV (Matrasoka) files.

-jw

Re:ISO Playback

woodsjm — GMT

SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!

Convert the videos to MKV or AVI. AirVideo would be happy to play them. Do what the rest of us do, and spend the time, and convert all your movies to playable files, instead of images or VIDEO_TS folders. I queued up about 50 movies on my MacPro a while back and let it go to town for about 24 hours converting all of my movies to MKV.

AirVideo LOVES MKV. At least my setup does. Running AirVideo Server on Ubuntu (linux) 9.10. Connecting with my iPad and iPhone.

Friends don't let friends play ISO's.

Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on!

Re:ISO Playback

NikosF — GMT

[quote=woodsjm]SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
...
Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on![/quote]

SERIOUSLY - some of us would like VOB support. You are clearly not exactly if you need to be with this in terms of filetype support if you don't support the most common movie format out there!

I have a 12TB file server and really don't want to encode my files to another codec/container. I have yet to find transcode settings that let the resulting h.264/mpeg4 rip look as good as the original DVD (on my 130 inch screen fed by a 1080p projector). So - why Mr Woodsjm, it may be fine for you to transcode if all you're doing is watching on your iPhone / computer screen, some of us would like to maintain as much fidelity as we can, and not have to maintain two versions of every file (which sort of defeats the point of the fabulous realtime transcoding AV does.

Is there not a way to just choose the 'main' feature with the 'main' audio track on the DVD using ffmpeg? How does Handbrake do it? (it's open source so I suppose one could look).

ANyway - would LOVE this feature!

Re:ISO Playback

woodsjm — GMT

[quote=NikosF][quote=woodsjm]SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
...
Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on![/quote]

SERIOUSLY - some of us would like VOB support. You are clearly not exactly if you need to be with this in terms of filetype support if you don't support the most common movie format out there!

I have a 12TB file server and really don't want to encode my files to another codec/container. I have yet to find transcode settings that let the resulting h.264/mpeg4 rip look as good as the original DVD (on my 130 inch screen fed by a 1080p projector). So - why Mr Woodsjm, it may be fine for you to transcode if all you're doing is watching on your iPhone / computer screen, some of us would like to maintain as much fidelity as we can, and not have to maintain two versions of every file (which sort of defeats the point of the fabulous realtime transcoding AV does.

Is there not a way to just choose the 'main' feature with the 'main' audio track on the DVD using ffmpeg? How does Handbrake do it? (it's open source so I suppose one could look).

ANyway - would LOVE this feature![/quote]

So let me get this straight...you'd rather clog your 12TB file server with VOB's and VIDEO_TS folders? I used to use all ISO's and VIDEO_TS directories. They all amounted to about 4GB each. Converted them all the .mkv now we're looking at 1.5 - 2GB each. MAJOR savings in space - means I can put more on my drive...so it's not JUST about playability. I disagree in the "most common movie format out there!" that's quickly NOT becoming the case - and if you want to watch "the most common movie format out there" use the player designed for it - a DVD PLAYER! This is not a DVD player - it's a VIDEO player.

Have you missed the point?

Re:ISO Playback

NikosF — GMT

[quote=woodsjm][quote=NikosF][quote=woodsjm]SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
...
Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on![/quote]

SERIOUSLY -...

really don't want to encode my files to another codec/container. I have yet to find transcode settings that let the resulting h.264/mpeg4 rip look as good as the original DVD (on my 130 inch screen fed by a 1080p projector). [/quote]

So let me get this straight...you'd rather clog your 12TB file server with VOB's and VIDEO_TS folders? I used to use all ISO's and VIDEO_TS directories. They all amounted to about 4GB each. Converted them all the .mkv now we're looking at 1.5 - 2GB each. MAJOR savings in space - means I can put more on my drive...so it's not JUST about playability. I disagree in the "most common movie format out there!" that's quickly NOT becoming the case - and if you want to watch "the most common movie format out there" use the player designed for it - a DVD PLAYER! This is not a DVD player - it's a VIDEO player.

Have you missed the point?[/quote]

No - but I fear you might have! I can easily transcode to a 1.5GB h.264/matroska - [b]but it means losing quality[/b] - which when I play back on my big screen is noticeable. I'd rather not keep TWO versions of every file and only want one. So - until there's a way to do it without losing quality, I'd like to play back my VOBs.

I do transcode my more mundane DVDs (TV shows, etc) - but I like to keep movies at their full resolution. In any event now that I've started buying Blurays, the 25-50 GB per title is what's really filling my harddrive (AND NO - I'D RATHER NOT REDUCE THEM IN SIZE!), so saving 2 GB per movie doesn't really seem the effort given the quality loss.

We have different use cases - I'm happy to accept that the quality trade-off versus size makes perfect sense for you. Please don't presume to speak for all users.

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.

Re:ISO Playback

NikosF — GMT

[quote=Admin]Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.[/quote]

Thanks. I know it sounds strange - but I've yet to find a h.264 conversion setting that looks exactly like the original MPEG2. When I'm on a 42" TV, it's barely noticeable, but watching on a 130" screen I do notice a certain 'something' that looks different. I've even had my wife do blind A/B comparisons between them.

I've tried Handbrake, I've tried ffmpeg, I've tried mencoder - none of them quite get there. They are 95%, but not 100%. Perhaps people could share what settings they use.

Actually the menus and extras I can live without - I find them an annoyance more than anything.

You've just made me wonder if it is possible to do a lossless MPEG2 transcode into a matroska container. Hmmm.

Either way I don't want to detract from the wonderful job you guys have done with Air Video. I'm using the Linux version and it works GREAT. The most painless and easiest to use of the options I've tried.

Re:ISO Playback

woodsjm — GMT

Re:ISO Playback

banjax — GMT

I would also like ISO playback. I'm using a Popcorn hour media tank for playback.

I think it's worth explaining why I'm using ISO as a storage mechanism. It's all a case of priorities. Most of DVD ripping is to save space in my living room and protecting the physical disk from my daughter

There are two main reasons why I use ISO though:
- Family acceptability - By using ISO my family get the same interface once they've selected the disk that are used to. If my daughter want to play some simple remote game or watch a short on a Pixar DVD she's used to it the menu system. My wife similarly doesn't have to think about doing something different if she wants to listen to a commentary or view a special feature.

- Ease of ripping - I'm using AnyDVD so ripping to ISO is very quick and simple to do. Let it scan the DVD then right click and press OK. Ripping a DVD is therefore as simple as ripping my CD collection was. I can initiate a DVD rip in 30 sec and wander off. I don't have to look at titles and audio, play around with presets, etc. It will just work and look like the DVD does.

Frankly I want to watch films I don't want to start playing around with the technology. So this means that I have to sit through FBI warnings and buy more diskspace than I otherwise would that's fine by me.

If I could get a simple solution that pulled allowed the same ease of ripping that I currently have then I may look at it more favourably but it still means I have to think about individual special features.

If I do want a portable version I still get to transcode them film from the ISO any way and as they're available from my NAS I can simply queue multiple ups to do them at the same time.

Re:ISO Playback

whoiskb — GMT

[quote=woodsjm][quote=Admin]Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.[/quote]

Thank you. I have more than 30 HD (1080p/720p + Dolby Digital) movies in matrasoka. They look stunning on my 52" 120hz Aquos.

Thank you very much. [/quote]

I would love to put my vote in for ISO/TS_Video support, but could also settle on MKV so that I could use this app. Would you be interested in sharing your handbrake settings that you use to get the best quality?

Re:ISO Playback

rreinstein — GMT

Please add support for ISO files. My entire collection is in that format, as it provides the ability to burn a disc from that file and retain menus, etc.
Thanks. Love the app.

Re:ISO Playback

hlkc — GMT

I know it is not going to help much but I just registered and like to post just one message below.

"I'm just one of them and have a 500+ ISO DVD/BD collection; all back up in a RAID server.

Is there a way to make a special ISO paid edition for the ISO fan?"

Re:ISO Playback

jockyw2001 — GMT

With my [url=http://www.i-have-a-dreambox.com/wbb2/board.php?boardid=23]airvideo + vlc mod[/url] you can play your iso collection

Re:ISO Playback

MotoBarsteward — GMT

The last comment is a bit daft really. The whole reason for me to get into the media centre stuff was because my kid kept scratching the DVDs. I couldn't Handbrake them to HDD because the kids wanted the menus. I use SageTV as my server and client solution. SageTV happily plays ripped DVDs. There is also a Web plugin for SageTV which allows remote (i.e. over the internet) scheduling of recording and playing of media, photos and music. It can transcode on the fly pretty much the same as AirVideo. The Web plugin uses Mplayer to do the mencoder to do the transcoding and streaming much the same as AirVideo does. Several people have now asked for support of playing ripped DVDs and I add myself to that list. Just to dismiss those people as 'Wrong' is not the way to improve software. I don't expect the menus to work but my SageTV interface just streams the main feature.

Re:ISO Playback

hlkc — GMT

[quote=jockyw2001]With my [url=http://www.i-have-a-dreambox.com/wbb2/board.php?boardid=23]airvideo + vlc mod[/url] you can play your iso collection[/quote]

Oh can you give us some ideas how to do this? Appreciated your tips in advance.

Re:ISO Playback

jockyw2001 — GMT

[quote=hlkc][quote=jockyw2001]With my [url=http://www.i-have-a-dreambox.com/wbb2/board.php?boardid=23]airvideo + vlc mod[/url] you can play your iso collection[/quote]

Oh can you give us some ideas how to do this? Appreciated your tips in advance. [/quote]
Did you click the link above? It's all explained there.

Re:ISO Playback

hlkc — GMT

[quote=jockyw2001][quote=hlkc][quote=jockyw2001]With my [url=http://www.i-have-a-dreambox.com/wbb2/board.php?boardid=23]airvideo + vlc mod[/url] you can play your iso collection[/quote]

Oh can you give us some ideas how to do this? Appreciated your tips in advance. [/quote]
Did you click the link above? It's all explained there.[/quote]

Thanks jockyw2001,

If I don't need the stream TV am I just going to add below and I will be able to stream ISO DVD using air video? Thanks again!

http://www.i-have-a-dreambox.com/wbb2/thread.php?postid=1259942#post1259942

Re:ISO Playback

afacciponti — GMT

I just registered and like to add my +1

I have 500+ ISO DVD/BD collection; all back up and served by Windows Home Server.

Hope this happens one Day and the big companies like microsoft allow ISO DVD playback on the XBOX 360

Re:ISO Playback

TheToid — GMT

+1 for windows DVD streaming, it can obviously be done, because there is an App for MACs that do it, but there is no PC server:

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/dvd-player-for-ipad/id376493632?mt=8

Also, i dont know what you are talking about with the legalities of decrypting, the point is that as long as the disc is in the drive while its being watched and the drive reads the CSS decryption key there just to decode and display there is no legal issues, otherwise it would be illegal to watch a DVD.

Re:ISO Playback

plind — GMT

+1 for ISO / VIDEO_TS support!

The arguments that say you should transcode everything to an Air Video supported format are ridiculous. Then why not make Air Video play just one format and require all your users to transcode everything to that one format? The whole beauty of Air Video is that is supports several formats out of the box without any hassle. ISO is one format that is used by many of us, like myself. So I think it's perfectly valid to request support for another popular format.

Re:ISO Playback

banjax — GMT

plind,

Much as I am happy to get additional support for the ISO cause I think that your argument is spurious - ultimately if they were making that arguement we'd all rip to Apple friendly format.

I think the argument from the other side is we'll allow you to play the video in a format that is most efficient and widely popular for ripping and swapping video files - a format that Apple doesn't support natively. In fact it's so efficient you should rip your DVD's in this format rather than anything else.

There is of course much to be said for this position and certainly air video give significant value to me in allowing me to play DivX/Xvid files.

The second part of the argument though is the one that has less certainty. It assumes that we value efficiency over anything else. I don't I value ease and convenience.

Re:ISO Playback

elvislee58 — GMT

+1 for ISO / VIDEO_TS support!

Re:ISO Playback

DBGaither — GMT

+1 for ISO/VIDEO_TS support.

I too use Sage and have ripped all DVD's to folders so that the family will have the exact same experience as the real CD. We also like all the special features. I could transcode everything to an Air Video friendly format to suit me better, but it wouldn't suit my family.

Re:ISO Playback

pharvard — GMT

+1 for ISO support. Thanks.

Re:ISO Playback

AirVideHoe — GMT

for whoever mentioned problems playing VOB files, there shouldn't be an issue. they're simply MPEG-2 encoded files, which is obviously an old codec used by DVD's.

i don't mind converting if i have to, a full length feature film takes about 20 minutes to encode on my i7 quadcore with 8 megs of RAM. my main problem with MKV is not the
container format itself, it's the lack of acceptance and implementation in the mainstream STILL. how about, dare i say it --> P-S-3. still no MKV native support unless you're
transcoding.

but, these newer containers (mp4/mkv) are capable of muxing in not only subtitles, but chapter markers as well. if you actually use the 'chapter markers' feature in Handbrake
and play your video back in 1) quicktime, 2) iOS (iphone, ipod touch, ipad) or 3) vlc -- you will see the actual title names, which is great. of course PS3 outright refuses to even
recognize any type of chapters, even though they're there. i think it ignores subtitles too.

this is why my PS3, which i bought mainly for sort of a mini HTPC type deal... gets about 1 hour of use a month. i have switched over to XBMC happily, and i am using ISO rips,
myself... of course i remove all the PUO's and garbage trailers and stuff at the start and any extra features that i am uninterested in -- this is the only way i can find to preserve
the original DVD's menus.

that is the only thing that i can think of that separates ISO or VIDEO_TS structure from container formats, is MENUS! -- and spotty support of subtitles and chapters.

tired of sony taking out features or releasing 700 meg patches to fix security holes in their "super secure" protection. how about adding a new feature in 2011? i don't think i've
seen them actually add a feature in over a year. oh wait.... they added some BS photo gallery maker (who cares, garbage) and ... uhm.. an annoying "what's new" thing that i
immediately cut off.

how about getting some coders on MKV? or MP4/M4V at that? chapters would be a real step forward when we don't have menus to do chapter selections.

ok my soapbox there, just pisses me off that i spent so much money on that thing for them to constantly be releasing worthless firmwares and haven't added a real feature that
made me go "oh... cool" in at LEAST a year.. maybe two.

went XMBC and haven't turned back.

i can say this about AirVideo, which is a compliment... (I love to show it off to friends when they visit, they can't believe how fast 2hr films are to immediately skip around without 10 mins of buffering!)

-- i encode my movies (when i do) in MP4 format... no special sound, just AAC 160 or something, essentially using the "Normal" profile. using the DVD as the source, and encoding it so that the output
resolution closely matches the input resolution (720x480), i can stream these movies with airvideo and have them start playing in 1 second or under. skips around the movie... no problem. takes at most
a second, again... to sync up and resume playing.

therefore, it's a beautiful thing that i don't have to encode a copy at DVD resolution, then another at iPhone resolution! 1 encode works beautifully on both; that saves a ton of time and effort when you
can do that.

i'll be testing out the new beta and see how things go with it.

so all said and done... you've got your people who archive just.. DAO and get the whole image (ISO) and that's how they rip, and then you have your other side of the table who takes the main movie and
encodes to MP4 or MKV. i agree with the admin... when encoded even with the "normal" handbrake profile, there is very little difference to be seen in the source output vs. encoded version. H.264 and
these newer codecs aren't like the old school ones where you're gonna see big macroblocks during movement and this and that... they are much more efficient and higher quality encoders, and if anything,
the MPEG-2 source is what's bringing the whole thing down. now comes the problem of beginning to rip next generation formats (bluray), that are ALREADY encoded in these new high efficiency codecs like
H.264, VC-1, etc. while you can get massive compression on MPEG-2/DVD content using these... what are you gonna do when the content is already compressed using the best stuff out right now? you've
got huge rips is what you've got...

so you're gonna go from usually 750MB-1.5GB (average for my encodes, with imperceivable loss) vs. 30GB... 50GB rips. your 2 terabyte hard drive doesn't sound like a lot of storage anymore, does it?

1GB mp4 --> roughly 1,000 movies per TB
50GB bluray --> roughly 20 movies per TB

BIG difference.

even if you consider the topic at hand... ISO format vs. MP4/MKV, picture a full ISO rip vs. only a main movie encode.

we'll be generous and say that the DVD's are 6GB after they're ripped.
encoding the main movie is gonna be about 1:5 ratio of that.... so on average i'd say that having the full ISO is going to cost you 5x more space than just the main movie, encoded.

now, closing out, i will say, there is nothing wrong with ripping your collection to ISO files. if you're not re-compressing to 4.7/single layer discs... then you're not sacrificing any content.. menus, extras, etc. you have a perfect copy to do what you will with in the future. nothing wrong with that.

in the long run, i can see both sides of this argument being completely valid. hardcore collectors want to have a lossless, perfect replication of the original disc. they want to be able to keep the menus and probably the extras. on the other hand, the support is just not out there. i was shocked when i saw XMBC actually would read/play movies directly from ISO images.

it's a dilemma... but i'm going to look at that VLC stuff that was posted. myself, i have my collection about half and half.... half ISO, half encoded single files.

i just wish we were seeing more support for these two main container formats --- mp4 and mkv. it's not like there's 30 formats. there's two that are used 95% of the time for encodes. at least be able to READ the files, and utilize basic streams inside the container like chapters, at the least. you'd think these programmers were actually busy doing something. i know better, cause like i said... PS3 hasn't seen a new feature since i bought the damn thing.

(and btw, i don't know if it came off like that, but i'm not talking about airvideo developers... i'm mainly talking about... like i said... sony and other companies who STILL haven't included support for these NOT SO NEW containers.)

and what about some FLAC love? open source, lossless... my entire CD collection is encoded in FLAC w/ embedded cues, etc. that's the way to go -- why? because you know in another year or two, mp3 and aac are going to "suck" and there's gonna be some new format that compresses smaller and has higher quality output. rather than having wasted your time ripping your whole CD collection to a lossy format, do it right and rip it to lossless, include the CUE file and the LOG helps too... now what format it goes or doesn't go to doesn't matter. the frequency range goes insanely high (655350Hz), it supports anywhere from 1 to 8 audio streams, and up to 32 BPS (32-bit audio).

sorry for getting on a tangent there... everyone just had a good argument going there. like i said, both sides are fair in their stance. i just want to fight for something too, lol. thanks if you read my rant!

what about something like this? -- (i just found it on sourceforge)

[url]http://sourceforge.net/projects/uniso/[/url]

you maybe could use third party code w/ permission to take the task off of your back? -- though, that source code is for *nix... but it was just an idea, since you use FFMpeg to transcode.. obviously you are open to open source software usage.

ISO Playback

aljrob — GMT

+1 for .ISO and Video_TS support.

I would definitely pay a premium for a version supporting this.

Re:ISO Playback

diale@dialtech.com — GMT

Ditto for me.

I'd pay an added premium for Video_TS support. I have ALL of my DVDs ripped down to a 10TB RAID 6 and enjoy playing the individual VOBs, but it doesn't transition well between VOB files. I originally ripped them to HD to get the wall of DVD media out of the room and stream to the TV via PLEX, but having the ability to essentially do the same thing with my mobile devices is really powerful.

I love the concept of this product. This just seems like a logical path to consider.

Re:ISO Playback

tecsi — GMT

Yes, I too would like to be able to play DVD ISOs (and BD ISOs) ripped from AnyDVD. Ripping to ISOs is quick and simple, and works great with PowerDVD, so it is convenient, one-format approach. Converting/compressing DVDs is a waste of energy given you can buy 2TB of HD storage <$100. That is roughly 300-500 DVDs for <$100 with no loss of quality. Compressing DVDs is only important if you are streaming over the internet, but not over a LAN.

Re:ISO Playback

Scyto — GMT

[quote=woodsjm]SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
[/quote]

Umm turn you own brain on.

We don't want to convert our existing ISO or VIDEO_TS libraries because we watch them at full resolution on our media centers / dunes / XBMC whatever. Having the same stuff at different encodes is a waste of space we want to keep at full resolution and transcode - this means as new hardware comes out we don't need to trendier.

Secondly air video ALREADY plays VOB content stored in VIDEO_TS folders really nicely. All it doesn't have is the ability to navigate the menus - which is sort of essential - this is the hard problem.

Playing from ISO is actually super easy, a ripped ISO is a container of VOB files, it can be opened and inspected in any number of ways from mounting the ISO and reading the VOB or even unpacking similarly to winars support of ISOs.

So the request is super valid for many many of us customers who have purchased.

ISO Playback

mickelin — GMT

Been a while since anyone +1'd this thread, but please keep doing so! Still no clear message from the devs on why they are reluctant to fix this much requested feature.

VLC Streamer happily streams .ISO-files to iPad/iPhone (but not .IMG for some reason), but the user interface is not as nice as Air Video, and it would be much better to only have one app and one server running, regardless of file format.

500+ ISO/IMG-files on my NAS, not going to convert them!

Re:ISO Playback

Scyto — GMT

i batch converted about the same number of ISOs for mymovies
i am not sure if the issue is that most folks use ffmpeg as root code and that doesnt have iso mounting capability?

also what is more important to me is that they support menu structures - i haven seen anything that does that?

Re:ISO Playback

Novox — GMT

Great app but lacks of major feature. How to become superb??

+1 for ISO/VIDEO_TS!!!!

Re:ISO Playback

carceron — GMT

Plex will play ISO. Works great!

Re:ISO Playback

phils — GMT

It sounds like quite a few people are requesting ISO support for video playback. ISO being just an encasement shell that can be easily read should not be a problem.
Serious movie collectors will always keep their videos in an ISO format for a lot of reasons.
If Air Video would read and play the ISO file, it would be the ultimate program!
PLEASE ADD ISO SUPPORT !

Re:ISO Playback

phils — GMT

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

+1 for ISO support with full DVD functionality...

It's not good enough to play the main feature of an ISO file...It needs to be able to support full DVD menu options, episode selection, sub options, audio options.

Please!

Re:ISO Playback

gx470 — GMT

:Bump:
Vlc streamer can play iso files..except the menus don't work.

I think iso file support would be totally awesome along with menu support!! :]

Re:ISO Playback

nerdherd — GMT

I just registered to add my vote for ISO support. Would be a great way to make this fantastic app even better!

Could we at least get some kind of indication from the devs as to if/when this might be addressed? This is the #2 thread in the general forum and I haven't seen an "official" comment in quite some time. Thanks!

Re:ISO Playback

mickelin — GMT

[quote=carceron]Plex will play ISO. Works great![/quote]

Plex does not play ISO on ios devices. However, I have finally found an app that does: VLCStreamer. No DVD menu support but does play the main feature. Also supports wifi download of converted file to the ipad/iphone. As I see it, these are the two critical features missing in Air Video. VLCStreamer does not have as simple, clean a user interface though. Please fix these two features!

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

[quote=mickelin][quote=carceron]Plex will play ISO. Works great![/quote]

Plex does not play ISO on ios devices. However, I have finally found an app that does: VLCStreamer. No DVD menu support but does play the main feature. Also supports wifi download of converted file to the ipad/iphone. As I see it, these are the two critical features missing in Air Video. VLCStreamer does not have as simple, clean a user interface though. Please fix these two features![/quote]

I have found VLC Streamer to be unreliable at best...

The first ISO DVD I tried to playback (The Beach) stopped comverting at 11:50mins, and started producing the following error in the log...

ac-tex damaged at 1-14
Slice Mismatch
Invalid mb type in B Frame...and so on

I contacted support, and they advised that the error meant nothing to them...

I'm afraid to say that I am still on the hunt for an IPAD app that supports the ISO format properly...I'm no longer worried if the menus and special features etc cannot be incorporated in the conversion, so long as there's an option to select the relevant subtitles for the conversion.

Come on Airvideo!!! I was told via an email months ago that it's on the way...When will this happen???? It would be a nice Christmas present...

I'll add that I'm also at the point where I'll buy one of [url]http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Slate_EP121/[/url] so as to avoid all of the issues with ISO playback.

Re:ISO Playback

Thomas_AUT — GMT

Actually, ISO & IMG are virtual disks/disk images, not a video-format. It's not the video-players task to mount or open virtual-disk images.
Storing videos in this format is just oldshool, inefficient and usually waste of disk-space, not because ISO sucks, but MPEG2-File/VC-1 does, because it takes a lot of disk-space (and bandwidth) for nothing. Furthermore, mounting original disk images forces the viewer to watch some stupid non-skippable infos & warnings if not removed during ripping. So, as movie-fan it just makes sense storing one big MKV-File (which is btw the best container), which only includes the movie and nothing else.
And, to be honest, even chapters are useless. If you call yourself a serious movie-fan you will watch a movie from the beginning to the end without stopping it. Anyway, chapters can be saved in MKV.
If you still want to stick with this solution, there is still a way to do it, but it's not that convenient:
Using a webbrowser and some scripts you should be able to mount your images on the server with daemon-tools or alcohol via a webinterface. Just add the Disk-Drive to you library and you can stream its content via AirVideo.
Although, afaik you need CGI... So, if some1 here has knowledge about PHP & CGI he could probably code that within 1-2 hours...

BR, Thomas

Re:ISO Playback

nikodn — GMT

I like using AirVideo with my iPad using live conversion and streaming to apple tv. It works absolutely great. Because most of my videos are still dvd with a video_ts folder containing vob files I would appriciate, if AirVideo would support this (in the moment, it just works by playing each vob file).

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Christmas has come and gone now...Still hanging for ISO support

Re:ISO Playback

stoof — GMT

Also have alot of ISO files. Are there any plan for supporting this?
I would appreciate a response if it's worth waiting for or if I need to buy any of the other apps supporting this.

Otherwise a great server/app but ISO is a must for me.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

I wish you all the luck in the world in trying to find an app that supports ISO properly. Please let me know if you find anything...

Re:ISO Playback

stoof — GMT

I can give you one right now. Video Stream.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Ok, you have my attention...

Have you used this app? If so, have you used it to play ISO files?

Re:ISO Playback

stoof — GMT

Nope, sorry. Haven't tried it myself but it seems several people are happy with it.
Could be worth to try depending on if ISO support in Air Video is in the roadmap or not.

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

Guys, we are currently working on Air Video Server update that will have completely rewritten conversion pipeline that will be much more flexible and allow us to implement things like ISO support. It is a big task though and will take some time.

Re:ISO Playback

stoof — GMT

Great, i'll be happy to wait for it if it's being worked on. Thanks for responding.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

[quote=stoof]Nope, sorry. Haven't tried it myself but it seems several people are happy with it.
Could be worth to try depending on if ISO support in Air Video is in the roadmap or not.[/quote]

Can I suggest that you buy it and trial it so I don't have to?

Re:ISO Playback

stoof — GMT

[quote=kiyosi][quote=stoof]Nope, sorry. Haven't tried it myself but it seems several people are happy with it.
Could be worth to try depending on if ISO support in Air Video is in the roadmap or not.[/quote]

Can I suggest that you buy it and trial it so I don't have to?[/quote]

That seems like a great idea. But how about this. You buy it and trial it. Maybe even better.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

You drive a hard bargain, but I might just do it...

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

I contacted video streamer support. Here's what they said about ISO playback...

Video Stream supports a large number of video file formats. These include:

mpg,avi, divx, xvid, wmv, mp4, m2v, m1v, ts, mpeg, mov, flv, mkv, ogg, iso, m4v, vob, asf, 3gp, dvr-ms, rm, rmvb, dvr-ms, wtv, m2ts, m2t, mpe

Video Stream does NOT support menu items in ISO's though. If you have a full DVD ISO including menus, you won't be able to select the movie. Your ISO must be only the main feature.

Hopefully this answers your question!

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

My curiosity got the better of me, so I tried this app...

It does handle ISO, but only as explained above, and there is an issue with the quality of the ISO playback...

I've tried all of the different conversion settings, but none seem to handle the conversion in the same manner as an .avi file I tried...

I'll give the makers of this app credit for taking the plunge with ISO support, but the quality of the video playback, and the fact that you need to re-author the DVD first to strip out all the menus leaves me wanting..

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

[quote=stoof]I can give you one right now. Video Stream.[/quote]

So..Back to my original statement...Good Luck in trying to find an app that supports ISO properly.

Re:ISO Playback

CoNS — GMT

.iso support would be brilliant.

Looking forward to the new server software, then.

Re:ISO Playback

Panama — GMT

Here's a thought.

I use the free version of PowerISO to mount ISO's to virtual drives. PowerISO has a command line interface: [url]http://www.poweriso.com/tutorials/mount-iso-file-on-command-line.htm[/url].

Scenario:
In Air Video I use Settings to identify the virtual drive letter to use. When I pick an ISO file on my remote device Air Video uses the PowerISO command line interface to mount the ISO and the virtual drive letter to access the files. From there it runs the main feature or some menu derived therefrom.

Command Line Interface Example:

C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerISO>PISO UNMOUNT F:

C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerISO>PISO MOUNT "D:\ISO\MyVideo.iso" F:

PowerISO Version 4.7 Copyright(C) 2004-2009 PowerISO Computing, Inc
Type piso -? for help

Mount successfully.

C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerISO>F:

F:\>dir
Volume in drive F is MyVideo
Volume Serial Number is 7294-DD0D

Directory of F:\

02/04/2009 02:42 PM VIDEO_TS

C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerISO>PISO UNMOUNT F:

Re:ISO Playback

CoNS — GMT

But does Air Video support playback of DvDs in VIDEO_TS folders? (or maybe separate titlesets in .vob files?)

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

The vob files themselves will play as long as they aren't split in 1gb chunks.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

[quote=Admin]The vob files themselves will play as long as they aren't split in 1gb chunks.[/quote]

This is an interesting point...

I've attempted to remove the DVD menus with DVD shrink and purely have a single VOB file, which is the movie file...

Using DVD shrink, I re-authored the DVD as you do, but allowed all of the Audio tracks and Subtitle tracks to be included into the single VOB file...

I've gone to play the file with air-video, and I'm only able to select the different audio tracks, but not the subtitle tracks. It's defaulted to the automatic setting.

Is there some way to select the subtitle track I want, or does air-video not support this?

I've been able to select different subtitle tracks on other files before. Don't ask me what file types they were though...

Re:ISO Playback

CoNS — GMT

[quote=Admin]The vob files themselves will play as long as they aren't split in 1gb chunks.[/quote]
Ok, that makes sense, although it would mean that the discussed ability to read directly into .iso files would be quite worthless, as they would normally always contain VOB files split in 1gb chunks.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

I'm rethinking this whole thing now...

I'm assuming that I will be able to select the subtitles I want (forced) if the ISO container support becomes available???

Getting the forced subpictures to work without having to find the right .srt file has always been a thorn in my side, yet over the years, no real progress has been made in this department.

Please add this support if possible...

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

Iso support should have full vob subtitle support.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

I think I've tried all of the apps available that have attempted to support ISO. If you all pull this off, it would make you the leaders in the field in my opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

[quote=kiyosi]I think I've tried all of the apps available that have attempted to support ISO. If you all pull this off, it would make you the leaders in the field in my opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result [/quote]

I'm not sure if I've asked this yet, and I'm not trying to be pushy, but can we please get some idea how long it will be before ISO support becomes available?

3 months??

6 months??

12 months??

Tomorrow?

Any idea? Hard to say?

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

There really is no date set yet. I hope for the 3 months ballpark

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Excellent!!! Can't wait for this...appreciate the ballpark timeline.

I'll leave you alone now...

Re:ISO Playback

Panama — GMT

--- But does Air Video support playback of DvDs in VIDEO_TS folders? (or maybe separate titlesets in .vob files?) ---

If your server has a media library dirctory containing folders that contain VIDEO_TS directories you can drill down to the VIDEO_TS directory on your mobile device and play the .VOB files.

The file listing shows enough information about the files to deduce which one to play first.

There is a setting in options to autoplay the next file. Set option to sort by Name, Ascending, autoplay next file.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Being able to play VOB files is a good temporary solution, but IMO, it's only a feasible option if we can select the subpicture (Subtitle) we want along the way...

Is it possible to whip up some code so we can select the subpicture track in a VOB file, or is this feature being bundled with the ISO support initiative?

Re:ISO Playback

Admin — GMT

DVD subpicture will come alongside with iso support (bit sooner embedded in matroska)

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Sweet

I remember reading about Matroska ages ago, but thought it would never happen...I guess the future is catching up with the present.

Once again....Sweet

[url=http://matroska.org/technical/whatis/index.html]Matroska[/url]

Re:ISO Playback

CoNS — GMT

@Admin: Are you going for a full DVD playback of the content of the .iso files (with DVD menus etc.)?

I assume it could be a quickfix to go for a "simple" playback possibility instead, where Air Video Server would go straight to playing the largest .VOB titleset inside the .iso file (still with selectable audio and subtitle streams). I.e. starting playback of an .iso file would mean that you would go straight to the main movie (no menus). This would work well with movies, but obviously not with DVDs with TV episodes etc. where each episode is located in a separate titleset of around the same size.

Obviously I would ideally prefer the golden solution of full DVD playback with menus etc. but I could certainly live with the above quickfix! Implementing it would "only" require the ability for Air Video Server to read the content of an .iso file and make the selection of the titleset to play based on the size of the .vob files, so in theory it should be rather quick to implement.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

I tried another app the other day...AVPlayerHD

I tried this app because it claimed that it could read the bitmap style subtitles in a VOB file...

it can do it, but the app couldn't play the video file itself very well though, and it's not set up for wireless streaming.

Instead, you need to to set up a FTP wireless transfer setting that will allow your files to be transferred wirelessly to the IOS device hard drive space, then play the video file back once it's transferred.

A very convuluded process, but the point of this is that I could select the subtitle stream I wanted in the VOB file which excited me a bit and made me realise that it's going to be pretty sweet when air video release this feature, along with the general ISO playback functions.

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Hi, just checking in to keep awareness and eager anticipation of this feature...

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Hi,

For information purposes, I wanted to let you know where the app 'My Movies' is up to with all of this...

For those who don't know, the 'My Movies' app is a DVD library management app, and up until recently, only managed libraries, and didn't handle streamig to IOS devices.

While they're DVD library management tool is immaculate with rich and colourful DVD metadata from IMDB, they're only just starting out with the video streaming, and I beleive, based on the link below, they have a while to go before they catch up with the likes of air-video.

[url]http://kb.mymovies.dk/KnowledgebaseArticle50075.aspx[/url]

I only mention this because with their DVD library, and air-videos know how of streaming, why can't they get together and collaborate to make an awesome app that's eye pleasing and fully DVD functional?

I'm sure there are proprietorship issues and red tape, but it would be really nice.

I would donate to such a cause...

Re:ISO Playback

kiyosi — GMT

Hi,

Just wondering how this is going?